Ticketing giant Ticketek has accidentally sold some VIP tickets to Chris Rock‘s upcoming Australian stand-up tour for hundreds of dollars less than they were originally advertised.
24-year-old Sydneysider Kailey is one of the fans who purchased tickets when the pricing error took place. She tells Crave Australia that she purchased a VIP ticket (which includes access to a pre-show party, VIP merchandise and more) to Rock’s upcoming Sydney show for $138.05, despite the original advertised price being $529.55.
“When I logged on to the website, 15 minutes before pre-sale started, all the VIP tickets were cheaper than the regular seats,” Kailey says.
“I thought it was odd but the number for Ticketek was engaged, as always, so I couldn’t clarify.
“[The price] was the same when pre-sale started, so I purchased the ‘Total Blackout’ VIP package because it was advertised as one of the cheapest.”
The Incorrect Price & The Current Price / Image: Supplied
Kailey says she received a phone call from Ticketek the next day. She claims the company requested she pay the difference between the price she purchased the ticket for and the correct price of $529.55, which is what the tickets are currently listed for.
“On their website it claims all sales are final and no refund would be issued,” Kailey says. “But in the regular terms and conditions it states that if there was a system error they would call to collect extra money or cancel the order.
“The money had already come out of my account, so the transaction at that point was complete. After an hour on the phone, they offered me the seats only without the VIP extras, which I was fine with because the delay would have caused me to end up paying for crap seats.
“They were going to cancel my order and give me a refund but I put up a fight, did the whole ‘annoying customer consumer rights speech’ with some Fair Trading thrown in — not to be a dick; the money had been taken out so I knew I had some ground there.
“It’s not like it’s a wrong display price for a banana at Woolies and they catch it at the register — the money was no longer ‘pending’ in my account.”
Kailey says she’s “happy” with how Ticketek amended the situation, because she has now been given “third row seats for cheaper than the nosebleed section”.
Ticketek declined to comment for this story.
Chris Rock is set to bring his ‘Total Blackout’ tour to Australia this June, for his first local shows in nine years.
